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Kentucky basketball coach Mark Pope said he understood the assignment when he was hired. We’ll find out on Tuesday, when the Wildcats play Lipscomb, to what extent he did.
Easily beating Wright State and Bucknell the first two games didn’t add anything to the imagination of what this version of the Wildcats could be. Rallying to beat Duke and its roster of future NBA players — including the most likely No. 1 overall draft pick in 2025 — sent Pope’s first-year expectations to a different stratosphere.
Handling success at most college basketball programs can be problematic. At Kentucky, it could make or break the season.
The Cats’ 77-72 win over the Blue Devils last Tuesday in Atlanta wasn’t simply an early nonconference victory. It was a portal to open up conversations about UK competing for a Final Four and national championship.
It’s certainly not scientific, but I’d put the over/under at 100 UK fans who booked rooms in San Antonio, site of this season’s Final Four, after the buzzer sounded against Duke.
“When you get a locker room that’s right, like these guys are trying to grow into a right locker room, you just don’t have the space to bring in all the other stuff, right?” Pope said. “Most of the things that they’re going to hear outside are going to be counter to what is making this group really special right now and gives us a chance to do the impossible, which is to be special throughout the season.”
While that’s always the aim at UK, no one on this completely new roster full of transfers and freshmen had any idea of what it’s like when those goals become tangible. It can be a burden in and of itself.
And it happened this season the moment Duke’s all-everything freshman Cooper Flagg failed to block out Otega Oweh, and his rebound and subsequent free throws sealed the Cats’ win.
Kentucky players have had to process a week of being told how great they are. That’s certainly not exclusive to playing at UK after a big win, but the…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/kentucky-basketball-coach-mark-pope-101634282.html
Author : The Courier Journal
Publish date : 2024-11-18 10:16:00
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